Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Apples by Gail Gibbons


Apples by Gail Gibbons (32 pages; 1book) #1

Gibbons, Gail. (2000). Apples. New York: Holiday House

Grade Level: PreK-1

Lexile: 650L

Author’s Credibility: She likes to travel to the places that she’s writing about and do research.

Summary/Response: Apples come from tress that can be found worldwide. The first colonists brought apple seeds to the new world, but discovered that the Indians had already had them. The apple trees have a beautiful blossom that opens in the spring. From this blossom the apple grows. In the fall, the ripe apples are picked and used for many different products. There are over 7500 varieties of apples with 2500 varieties grown in the U.S. The apple is a staple for the nation’s economy and farmer.

Standards: Language: Students read a wide range of print and nonprint texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.
Science: The characteristics of organisms, life cycles of organisms and environment

Illustrations: There are drawings in the book. There is a cross-section label of an apple and an apple cider press. There is also a label of a flower. Horizontal tables in the book show how to plant a tree and make an apple pie.

Access Features: There are little snippets of information about apples in the back of the book.

Related Texts: How Apples Grow? by Betsy Maestro, Applesauce by Shirley Kurtz

Classroom Use: This would be a good book for the students to read themselves or the teacher do a read aloud. It could be used in a thematic unit discussing plants. It would also be a good nonfiction text to use along with the folktale of Johnny Appleseed.


2 comments:

I love nonfiction said...

The Pumpkin Book by Gail Gibbons is a related text too. Kids could compare and contrast the life cycle and growing conditions for apples and pumpkins.

You could use these two books (with others by Gail Gibbons) for an author study.

Debbie Vanderford said...

I always taught an apple unit when I taught kindergarten. We learned about Johnny Appleseed and about the star inside an apple,etc. This would make a great book to use with an apple unit.